Data processing system and method for switching between programs having a same title using a voice command

ABSTRACT

A voice command interface is implemented in a data processing system whereby a user may select any application which is currently running on the data processing system without having to manually modify a list of programs which may be accessed by a voice command and without having to request the program by its full name. To allow a user to access a program which is currently running on the data processing system, control within the data processing system ensures that a name of the program or application which is opened by an external user is added to a window list automatically. Similarly, a program which is no longer enabled by a user and running on the data processing system will be automatically removed from the window list. Additionally, the data processing system and methodology implemented therein allow an external user to speak merely a portion of a title of an application to access the application using a voice command. When two or more programs have the same or similar titles, the data processing system first accesses a program which is first on the window list. If this is not the program desired by the user, the user then repeats the command and a next program or application is accessed and brought into focus. This procedure repeats and may even loop back to the first access program if the user continues to repeat commands accessing the program having similar or the same titles.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is related to the following, co-pendingpatent application:

Ser. No. 08/812,890, entitled "DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD FORDYNAMICALLY ACCESSING AN APPLICATION USING A VOICE COMMAND", which hasbeen assigned to the assignee of the present application and is beingfiled concurrently herewith.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates in general to a data processing systeminterface with an external user, and in particular, to an interfacesystem which uses voice commands provided by an external user toselectively access applications on the data processing system.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

With the ever increasing use of computers by people of all walks oflife, developers of computer systems have had to design computerinterfaces which interact with the user in an intuitive and effectivemanner. In an attempt to effectively communicate with all types ofexternal users, designers of many computer systems have implemented userinterfaces which respond to voice commands. For examples of suchinterfaces, refer to IBM Voice Type Dictation 1.1 for OS/2 and IBM VoiceType Dictation 3.0 for Windows '95.

As is known in the data processing art, a speech recognition apparatusrequired to implement such user interfaces which respond to voicecommands. Speech recognition apparatuses generally include an acousticprocessor and stores a set of acoustic models. The acoustic processormeasures sound features of an utterance by an external user and theacoustic model represents the acoustic features of the utterance of oneor more words associated with the model. The sound features of theutterance are then compared to each acoustic model to produce a matchscore. The match score for an utterance and an acoustic model is anestimate of the closeness of the sound features of the actual utteranceto the acoustic model.

The word or words-associated with the acoustic model having the bestmatch score may then be selected as the recognition results.Alternatively, the acoustic match score may be combined with other matchscores, such as additional acoustic match scores and language modelmatch scores. The word or words associated with the acoustic model ormodels having the best combined match score may then be selected as therecognition result.

For command and control applications, the speech recognition apparatustypically implemented recognizes an uttered command. Subsequently, thecomputer system executes a command to perform a function associated withthe recognized command. For this purpose, the command associated withthe acoustic model having the best match score is selected as therecognition result. Problems associated with inadvertent sounds such ascoughs, size, or spoken words not intended for recognition have beenalleviated by the invention disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,317,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

As problems associated with recognizing spoken commands in a computersystem have been reduced, or even alleviated, computer systems havetaken advantage of this new and easily implemented interface to performcertain functions within the computer system. For example, InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation has developed a VoiceType® product whicheffectively allows a user to speak commands and have a computer systemrespond in a limited manner. Specifically, a user may specify a programor application to be accessed using voice commands. A speech recognitionunit, such as those previously described, is then used to detect when anexternal user utters the specified phrases. Upon determining that anuttered word corresponds to the list specified by a user, the computersystem implementing this interface accesses a program in response to auser's utterance of a word which is specified on the previouslyprogrammed static window list described above. Thus, such systemseffectively implement a user interface in which program control may bespecified by a voice command when the program has previously been storedin a specified list by the user.

While the aforementioned voice command interface works well, a user islimited by a manner in which voice commands may be issued. For example,because the program list is programmed and static, the user is only ableto access the programs designated therein by a voice command. Therefore,the user is limited in the programs which are accessible by a voicecommand and is only able to access a program previously stored in theprogram list. To access additional programs using a voice command, auser is required to update a list of programs which are accessible by avoice command.

Furthermore, current implementations of voice command interfaces forcomputer systems require an external user to speak a full titleprecisely and accurately to access a computer application correspondingto that title. In situations in which different views of an applicationare provided or different components of the application are to beaccessed, a user may encounter difficulty as the voice command interfacebecomes less intuitive and, therefore, a less effective interface forthe user. For example, when a user desires to view a desktop, a usermust specify whether it is Desktop-Icon View, Desktop Tree View, orDesktop-Properties, among others. In this situation, a user is requiredto speak the full title to access an application using voice command.Therefore, if a user simply spoke "a desktop," the speech recognitionunit corresponding to the computer system would not find a match becausethe fill label had not been spoken. In this case, a user is limited by acomputer systems requirements that stilted, lengthy language be input tobe recognized by the voice command interface.

Therefore, a need exists for a voice command interface which allows auser to communicate in a more natural and intuitive manner to performdesired actions on a data processing system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The previously mentioned needs are fulfilled with the present invention.Accordingly, there is provided, in a first form, a data processingsystem. The data processing system includes a memory for storing awindow list and a first input circuit for receiving a first user input.A speech recognition unit is connected to the first input means forreceiving the first user input. The speech recognition unit determineswhen the first user input corresponds to a plurality of items stored inthe window list. A central processing unit is connected to the speechrecognition unit. The central processing unit selectively accesses aplurality of applications corresponding to the plurality of items storedin the window list when the first use input correspond s to theplurality of items stored in the window list.

Additionally, there is provided, in a second form, a method foraccessing a data processing system. The method includes the steps ofstoring a window list in the memory, receiving a first user input at afirst user interface, and determining when the first user inputcorresponds to a plurality of items stored in the window list. A centralprocessing unit is then enabled to selectively access a plurality ofapplications corresponding to the plurality of items stored in thewindow list when the first user input corresponds to the plurality ofitems stored in the window list.

There is also provided, in a third form, a program storage devicereadable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructionsexecutable by the machine to perform method steps for accessing a dataprocessing system. The method steps include storing a window list in amemory, receiving a first user input at a first user interface, anddetermining when the first user input corresponds to a plurality ofitems stored in the window list. A central processing unit is thenenabled to selectively access the plurality of applicationscorresponding to the plurality of items stored in the window list whenthe first user input corresponds to the plurality of items stored in thewindow list.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, a data processing system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates, in flow diagram form, a methodology for respondingto a voice command in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3-A illustrates, in flow diagram form, a methodology for respondingto a voice command in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3-B illustrates, in flow diagram form, a portion of the methodologyof FIG. 3-A;

FIG. 4 illustrates, in block diagram form, a display device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates, in block diagram form, a display device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates, in block diagram form, a display device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates, in block diagram form, a display device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates, in block diagram form, a display device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention implements a voice command interface whereby auser may select any application which is currently running on the dataprocessing system without having to manually modify a list of programswhich may be accessed by a voice command and without having to requestthe program by its full name. The present invention implements theseimprovements using several techniques.

In a first technique, a window list which stores the names of programsthat may be accessed via a voice command is dynamically updated at thetime a program is accessed and enabled on the data processing system.Stated another way, when a program is accessed and enabled on the dataprocessing system of the present invention, control within the dataprocessing system ensures that a name of the program or application isadded to the window list. This window list is subsequently used todetermine the commands which a user may speak to access a desiredapplication. As previously mentioned, prior art implementations requirea user to manually update a program list with the programs that could beaccessed using a voice command. In contrast, the present inventionaccesses a window list which is updated automatically upon opening orclosing a program or application and the resulting window list is usedto determine the program or application which is accessible by a voicecommand. Therefore, to use a voice command to access the program orapplication, the user must merely state the title or label associatedwith a desired running program to bring that program or application intofocus on the data processing system.

Furthermore, to access a program utilizing the methodology describedabove, the present invention recognizes that some programs andapplications will have the same or similar titles. In this instance,rather than requiring a user to speak the entire title, the presentinvention allows an external user to speak merely a portion of thetitle. When two or more programs have the same or similar titles, thepresent invention first accesses a first program which is first on thewindow list. If this is not the program desired by the user, the userrepeats the command and a next program or application is accessed andbrought into focus. This procedure repeats and may even loop back to thefirst accessed program if the user continues to repeat commandsaccessing the programs having similar or the same titles. Operation ofthe present invention will subsequently be described in greater detail.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details concerning timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Refer now to the drawings wherein depicted elements are not necessarilyshown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated bythe same reference numeral through the several views.

Referring first to FIG. 1, an example is shown of a data processingsystem 100 which may be used for the invention. The system has a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 110. The CPU 110 is coupled to various othercomponents by system bus 112. Speech recognition unit 152 is coupled tovarious other components of data processing system 100 by system bus112. Additionally, it should be noted that speech recognition unit 152may be implemented as software which resides in RAM 114, ROM 116, diskstorage device 120, or storage device 140. Read only memory ("ROM") 116is coupled to the system bus 112 and includes a basic input/outputsystem ("BIOS") that controls certain basic functions of the dataprocessing system 100. Random access memory ("RAM") 114, I/O adapter118, and communications adapter 134 are also coupled to the system bus112. I/O adapter 118 may be a small computer system interface ("SCSI")adapter that communicates with a disk storage device 120. Communicationsadapter 134 interconnects bus 112 with an outside network enabling thedata processing system to communication with other such systems.Input/Output devices are also connected to system bus 112 via userinterface adapter 122 and display adapter 136. Keyboard 124, track ball132, mouse 126 and speaker 128, and microphone 150 are allinterconnected to bus 112 via user interface adapter 122. Displaymonitor 138 is connected to system bus 112 by display adapter 136. Inthis manner, a user is capable of inputting to the system throughkeyboard 124, trackball 132, mouse 126, and microphone 150 and receivingoutput from the system via speakers 128 and display device 138.Additionally, an operating system is used to coordinate the functions ofthe various components shown in FIG. 1. It should be noted that theoperating system may be OS/2 ("OS/2" is a trademark of the IBMCorporation). During operation of the present invention, the operatingsystem and a voice navigator may be stored in RAM 114, ROM 116, diskstorage device 129 or storage device 140. Furthermore, it should benoted that the voice navigator is an application which controls speechcommunications between an external user and data processing system 100.

Preferred implementations of the invention include implementations as acomputer system programmed to execute the method or methods describedherein, and as a computer program product. According to the computersystem implementation, sets of instructions for executing the method ormethods are resident in the random access memory 114 of one or morecomputer systems configured generally as described above. Until requiredby the computer system, the set of instructions may be stored as acomputer program product in another computer memory such as disk drive120 (which may include a removable memory such as an optical disk orfloppy disk for eventual use in the disk drive 120). Further, thecomputer program product can also be stored at another computer andtransmitted when desired to the user's work station by a network or byan external network such as the Internet. One skilled in the art wouldappreciate that the physical storage of the sets of instructionsphysically changes the medium upon which it is stored so that the mediumcarries computer readable information. The change may be electrical,magnetic, chemical or some other physical change. While it is convenientto describe the invention in terms of instructions, symbols, characters,or the like, the reader should remember that all of these and similarterms should be associated with the appropriate physical elements.

Note that the invention describes terms such as comparing, validating,selecting or other terms that could be associated with a human operator.However, for at least a number of the operations described herein whichform part of the present invention, no action by a human operator isdesirable. The operations described are, in large part, machineoperations processing electrical signals to generate other electricalsignals.

During a following description of operation, speech recognition unit 152will be referred to often. A more detailed description of speechrecognition unit 152 will not be provided herein as such units arewell-known in the relevant data processing art. For informationregarding speech recognition unit 152, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,317,entitled "Speech Recognition System With Improved Rejection of Words andSounds Not in the System Vocabulary," by Edward A. Epstein, et al., andissued on Nov. 7, 1995, which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein. For additional information, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,298entitled "Instantaneous Context Switching for Speech RecognitionSystems" by Vince M. Stanford, et al., and issued on Apr. 30, 1996.

The use of data processing system 100 to execute the operations of thepresent invention will subsequently be described with reference to FIG.2. Assume that in a first stage of operation data processing system 100is operating using an operating system such as OS/2 available from IBMCorporation or Windows '95 available from Microsoft. It should also benoted that additional operating systems could also be used to implementthe present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a first step requiresdata processing system to wait for a user action. CPU 110 executes step202 by polling inputs received from user interface adapter 122 andcommunications adapter 134 to determine whether an external user hasperformed an action which requires data processing system 100 to performa specified function. For example, in a step 204, CPU 110 detects when auser opens an application. As is well-known in the data processing art,a user may open an application by clicking a button on mouse 126,positioning and enabling trackball 132, or pressing a key on keyboard124. Additionally, CPU 110 uses each of the input devices previouslydescribed to determine when a user closes an application in a step 206.The steps executed by a user and data processing system 100 to open andclose applications are well-known to those with skill in the relevantdata processing art and will not be described in detail herein.

After a user has opened or closed an application, a window list storedin memory, such as RAM 114, is updated with the modified information ina step 208. As the window list comprises a list of all applicationswhich are currently enabled or running, window list 208 is updated eachtime a user opens an application or closes an application. The windowlist is updated using well-known techniques which are implemented inmost major operating systems. Such an update may be performed by addingappropriate information to a window list display when the operatingsystem launches an application. Methodologies for updating the windowlist when an application is launched are well-known to those with skillin the art and will not be described in detail herein. The window listis updated in response to control signals provided by CPU 110 uponreceipt of information which indicates that an application has beenopened or closed from user interface adapter 122 or communicationsadapter 134.

Subsequently, CPU 110 provides control signals as a message to anavigator program. It should be noted that a navigator program could bestored in RAM 114, ROM 116, disk storage device 120 or storage device140 of data processing system 100. The navigator program is anapplication which controls speech communications between an externaluser and a data processing system 100. The navigator program controlsoperation of speech recognition unit 152 so that a user's command isdetected and an action is performed in response thereto, whenapplicable. The navigator program, upon receipt of the message that thewindow list was modified in step 210, enables speech recognition unit152 to access the contents of the window list from RAM 114 in a step212. After accessing the contents of the window list, speech recognitionunit 152 parses out speakable items using well-known parsing techniques.To summarize these parsing techniques, voice commands which areseparated by a "-" or a ":" are available for users to select acorresponding program to access. Furthermore, if a file name appears ina task list, voice commands stating the file name without acorresponding extension will access the task list.

After speakable items have been parsed from the contents of the windowlist, speech recognition unit 152 enables speakable items in the windowlist to participate in a subsequent speech recognition operation duringa subsequent voice command operation. It should be noted that thespeakable items which are enabled correspond to words already known andrecognized by speech recognition unit 152. However, in the absence of anopen and running application, such speakable items are not enabled forrecognition during a subsequent voice command operation.

When data processing system 100 is waiting for a user action in a mannerpreviously described and an external user utters a word, the word istransferred from microphone 150 to user interface adapter 122. Undercontrol from CPU 110, the word is passed from user interface adapter 122to speech recognition unit 152. Speech recognition unit 152 subsequentlydetermines whether the word is a window list word in a step 218. Speechrecognition unit 152 subsequently performs this function by executing acomparison between a recognized word and a list of words enabled for thewindow list. Additionally, this operation may be performed by enablingspeech recognition unit 152 to identify characteristics such as uniquetags or grouping data which indicate a recognized word is enabled forthe window list. If the word is not a window list word, speechrecognition unit 152 indicates that the word is not included in itsvocabulary and subsequently waits for a next user action. However, ifthe word is a window list words, speech recognition unit 152subsequently determines which window list item was said by the user.Speech recognition unit 152 performs this function by comparing thespoken word, after being processed by speech recognition unit 152 to bein a digital form, with a matching table which stores each of the wordsrecognized by speech recognition unit 152. It should be noted that theconversion of the word from the microphone to a digital form iswell-known in the relevant data processing art and will not be describedin detail herein.

After speech recognition unit 152 determines which window list item wasspoken by the user in a step 220, the voice navigator system of dataprocessing system 100 provides control information to indicate a windowhandle or identifier of the desired application corresponding to theword uttered by the user. The window handle or identifier identified byspeech recognition unit 152 is subsequently provided to CPU 110. CPU 110then provides the proper control signals to change a focus of thedesired program to a first-order focus of data processing system 100.When the desired program is in the first-order field of focus, anexternal user is able to access a desired program.

Because the window list is automatically updated in step 208 when a useropens or closes an application, and the updated window list isautomatically detected and recognized by speech recognition unit 152,the present invention allows a user to more quickly, efficiently, andintuitively access a running program on data processing system 100.

Building upon the methodology described and illustrated in FIG. 2, FIGS.3-A and 3-B provide an alternate embodiment of the present invention. InFIG. 3-A, each of steps 302-314 is executed in a similar manner to steps202-214 in FIG. 2. However, an alternate methodology for executing thepresent invention is provided in a remaining portion of FIG. 3-A andFIG. 3-B. In step 316, a user issues a spoken command. Subsequently, ina step 318, speech recognition unit 152 determines whether a form of thecommand is "switched to a `program`." If the spoken command issued bythe user and detected by speech recognition unit 152 is not a commandhaving the form "switch to a `program`," another action is performed ina step 320. This other action is performed by CPU 110 under the controlof a navigator of the operating system. Alternatively, the navigatorcould determine that the desired action is an invalid command andperform no operation.

However, if speech recognition unit 152 determines that the commandspoken by the user into microphone 150 has a form of "switch to"followed by the name of a program, wherein the program is listed on thewindow list, a step 322 is executed. In a step 322, a navigator of theoperating system determines whether there are more than program with thesame or similar titles to the program requested to in the "switch to"command. If there is only one program with the same or similar title tothat specified in the "switch command," CPU 110 switches a focus of dataprocessing system 100 to the specified program in a step 324.

However, if there are more than one program with the same or similartitles identified in the "switch to" command, a step 326 of FIG. 3-B isexecuted. In step 326, CPU 110 determines whether all similarly titledprograms have been displayed by tracking previous displays of thesimilarly titled programs. If all similarly titled programs have beendisplayed, a first program is displayed on display device 138 undercontrol of CPU 110 and display adapter 136 (step 328). Thus, a firstprogram is displayed on display device 138. Next, speech recognitionunit 152 must determine whether a user has specified a spoken command tomicrophone 150 in a step 332. If the user has not issued a spokencommand, a program flow returns to step 302 of FIG. 3-A.

However, if the user has spoken a command, it must again be determinedwhether or not the command has the form of a "switch to" command in astep 334. If the command is not a "switch to" command, an actionspecified by the user is executed in step 336 under control of CPU 110.However, if the command is a "switch to" command, CPU 110 will accessthe window list to determine whether all similarly titled programs havebeen previously displayed on display device 138. If not, CPU 110provides the control signals to display a next program on display device138 in a step 330. The next program is chosen by being a next titledisplayed on window list before the previous program was displayed ondisplay device 138. If all similarly titled programs have previouslybeen displayed, CPU 110 provides control signals to display the firstprogram on display device 138. Subsequently, program, flow returns tostep 332. It should be noted that all similarly titled programs will beconsecutively displayed in a looping fashion until the user selects oneor determines that no operation should be executed using this program.While operation of the present invention has been described utilizingthe system diagram of FIG. 1 and the flow charts of FIGS. 2, 3-A and3-B, an example of operation of the present invention will subsequentlybe provided.

During operation of the present invention, a user may speak a commandinto microphone 150. As previously described, this spoken command isprovided to CPU 110 and speech recognition unit 152 via user interfaceadapter 122 and system bus 112. Assume in a first step of this operationthat a user desires to view a window list for data processing system100. As previously discussed, the window list represents all programsand applications which are currently enabled and running in oneembodiment of the present invention. In accessing the window list, theuser must speak the voice command "window list" into microphone 150.Microphone 150 transfers these utterances to speech recognition unit152. Speech recognition unit 152 subsequently compares the utterancesprovided by user interface adapter 122 to determine that the term"window list" corresponds to a term which is "knows." Upon recognitionof the term "window list" by speech recognition unit 152, speechrecognition unit 152 provides the appropriate control and datainformation to display adapter 136. Display adapter 136 provides thisinformation to display 138, wherein a Voice Manager window is configuredto illustrate the terms spoken by the external user into microphone 150are recognized as being a "window list" term by speech recognition unit152. In response to the window list command, speech recognition unit 152provides the appropriate data and control signals to CPU 110. CPU 110subsequently accesses the window list from RAM 114 and provides theappropriate control and data signals to display adapter 136. Displayadapter 136 subsequently configures the window list window on displaydevice 138 which displays each of the applications corresponding to thewindow list stored in RAM 114. The previous steps performed operationsreflected in FIG. 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a next example of operation. In this example, displaydevice 138 has a voice manager 400 and an application 402 displayedthereon. It should be noted that display device 138 and the objectsillustrated thereon are determined by a remaining portion of dataprocessing system 100. For example, CPU 110 controls the datacommunicated between display adapter 136 and both ROM 116 and RAM 114 todetermine an object displayed on display device 138. In display device138 of the present invention, a Voice Manager window 400 is provided.Voice Manager window 400 reflects a user's voice command as recognizedby speech recognition unit 152. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 5,Voice Manager window 400 indicates that a user executed a "switch toTime and Place" command. As previously described, a user speaks thiscommand to microphone 150. Microphone 150, through the use of interfaceadapter 122, provides the data to speech recognition unit 152. Speechrecognition unit 152 parses the language spoken by the user to separatethe words. Subsequently, speech recognition unit 152 recognizes that theuser desires to execute a "switch to" command. Furthermore, given thecontext of the "switch to" command, speech recognition unit 152 knowsthat the program desired to be accessed is a "Time and Place"application. When speech recognition unit 152 determines that theprogram to be accessed is the "Time and Place" program, speechrecognition unit 152 provides the appropriate control and data signalsto CPU 110 to indicate both that the user desires to perform a change offocus operation via this "switch to" command and that the user desiresto bring the "Time and Place" application to a first order of focus ondisplay device 138. CPU 110 subsequently processes these commands toenable one of ROM 116 and RAM 114 to execute the desired application anddisplay object 402 on display device 138.

Next, assume that a user desires to access the "Lotus Notes--Work Spaceat Office" application. As noted in the window list displayed on FIG. 4,the "Lotus Notes--Work Space at Office" application is currently runningon data processing system 100. Therefore, when a user speaks a voicecommand "switch to Lotus Notes," speech recognition unit 152 parses theinputs received from user interface adapter 122 to note that the programto be accessed is "Lotus Notes." When speech recognition unit 152compares this with the currently running applications listed by thewindow list, it notes that a "Lotus Notes--Work Space at Office"application is running. Speech recognition unit 152 does not requirethat each term of the program title specified in the window list bestated by an external user. Rather, speech recognition unit 152determines that the spoken term "Lotus Notes" corresponds to a firstportion of the title provided in the window list and provide controlsignals indicating that a focus of data processing system 100 should bemodified. CPU 110 subsequently provides the appropriate control and datainformation to a remaining portion of data processing system 100 tomodify a focus of data processing system 100 to display the "LotusNotes--Work Space at Office" application on display device 138.

Next, assume that an external user desires to view an operating systemwindow. Assume in one embodiment of the present invention that theoperating system is OS/2 available from IBM Corporation. Therefore, fora user to access a window within this operating system, they must speakthe command "switch to OS/2 window." However, as illustrated in FIG. 7,there are two open and active OS/2 windows currently available in dataprocessing system 100. Therefore, after a user's words are detected byspeech recognition unit 152 and evaluated to identify whether the wordscorrespond to current applications on data processing system 100, speechrecognition unit 152 provides control and data information to CPU 110 toaccess a first OS/2 window.

CPU 110 then executes the steps described in FIGS. 3-A and 3-B todetermine whether the program to be displayed should be the firstprogram or a subsequent program, depending on a number of commandsexecuted by the user which access an OS/2 window. In this example,assume that the "switch to OS/2 window" command executed by the user isa first command. Therefore, CPU 110 will provide control and datainformation to access a first OS/2 title from the window list and changea focus of the window corresponding to that first OS/2 title, such thatthe first window is displayed on display device 138.

Next, assume that the user did not want to access the first OS/2 window,but instead wanted to access the second OS/2 window. In this case, theuser must simply restate the command "switch to OS/2 window." Speechrecognition unit 152 again recognizes that the spoken command recognizesa program which is currently running and, therefore, displayed on thewindow list (of FIG. 4). Speech recognition unit subsequently providesthe appropriate control information to CPU 110. CPU 110 recognizes thatthis is the second "switch to OS/2" command received thereby. Referringto FIG. 8, window 800 is brought to focus upon execution of the second"switch to OS/2 window" command.

By now it should be apparent that a data processing system and methodfor implementing a voice command interface which allows a user tocommunicate in a more natural and intuitive manner has been provided.There are many additional configurations for implementing the inventiondescribed above.

While there have been described herein the principles of the invention,it is to be clearly understood to those skilled in the art that thisdescription is made by way of example only and not as a limited to thescope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended, by the appendedclaims, to cover all modifications of the invention which fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A data processing system, comprising;a memory forstoring a window list; a first input means for receiving a first userinput; a speech recognition unit coupled to the first input means forreceiving the first user input, the speech recognition unit determiningwhen the first user input represents a plurality of items stored in thewindow list; and a central processing unit coupled to the speechrecognition unit, the central processing unit selectively accessing eachof a plurality of applications corresponding to the plurality of itemsstored in the window list when the first user input represents theplurality of items stored in the window list.
 2. The data processingsystem of claim 1 wherein the central processing unit accesses each ofthe plurality of applications consecutively.
 3. The data processingsystem of claim 2 wherein the central processing unit accesses a firstone of the plurality of applications after a last one of the pluralityof applications is accessed.
 4. The data processing system of claim 1wherein the first input means is a microphone and the first user inputis a voice command.
 5. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein thecentral processing unit accesses a first one of the plurality ofapplications corresponding to the plurality of items stored in thewindow list when the first user input corresponds to the plurality ofitems stored in the window list.
 6. The data processing system of claim5 wherein the first user interface receives a second user input.
 7. Thedata processing system of claim 6 wherein the central processing unitaccesses a next one of the plurality of applications corresponding tothe plurality of items stored in the window list when the second userinput corresponds to the plurality of items stored in the window list.8. The data processing system of claim 7 wherein the central processingunit accesses a first one of the plurality of applications correspondingto the plurality of items stored in the window list when the second userinput corresponds to the plurality of items stored in the window listand the central processing unit previously accessed a last one of theplurality of applications corresponding to the plurality of items storedin the window list.
 9. A method for accessing a data processing system,comprising the steps of:storing a window list in a memory; receiving afirst user input at a first user interface; determining when the firstuser input represents a plurality of items stored in the window list;and enabling the central processing unit to selectively access each of aplurality of applications corresponding to the plurality of items storedin the window list when the first user input represents the plurality ofitems stored in the window list.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising the steps of:receiving a voice command at the first userinterface; and enabling a speech recognition unit to determine when thevoice command corresponds to the plurality of items stored in the windowlist.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the stepof:accessing a first one of the plurality of applications in response tothe voice command.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising thestep of:modifying a focus of the first one of the plurality ofapplications in response to the voice command.
 13. The method of claim11, further comprising the steps of:receiving a second user input to thefirst user interface; determining when the second user input correspondsto the plurality of items stored in the window list; and accessing anext one of the plurality of applications in response to the second userinput.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the stepof:modifying a focus of the next one of the plurality of applications inresponse to the second user input.
 15. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising the step of:accessing the first one of the plurality ofapplications when a previous user input corresponded to a last one ofthe plurality of items stored in the window list.
 16. A program storagedevice readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by the machine to perform method steps foraccessing a data processing system, said method steps comprising:storinga window list in a memory; receiving a first user input at a first userinterface; determining when the first user input represents a pluralityof items stored in the window list; and enabling a central processingunit to selectively access each of a plurality of applicationscorresponding to the plurality of items stored in the window list whenthe first user input represents the plurality of items stored in thewindow list.
 17. The program storage device of claim 16, furthercomprising the method steps of:receiving a voice command at the firstuser interface; and enabling a speech recognition unit to determine whenthe voice command corresponds to the plurality of items stored in thewindow list.
 18. The program storage device of claim 17, furthercomprising the method step of:accessing a first one of the plurality ofapplications in response to the voice command.
 19. The program storagedevice of claim 18, further comprising the method step of:modifying afocus of the first program in response to the voice command.
 20. Theprogram storage device of claim 18, further comprising the method stepsof:receiving a second user input to the first user interface;determining when the second user input corresponds to the plurality ofitems stored in the window list; and accessing a next one of theplurality of applications in response to the second user input.
 21. Theprogram storage device of claim 20, further comprising the method stepof:modifying a focus of the next one of the plurality of applications inresponse to the second user input.
 22. The program storage device ofclaim 18, further comprising the method step of:accessing the first oneof the plurality of applications when a previous user input correspondedto a last one of the plurality of items stored in the window list.